Object surface managing method and object surface managing system

ABSTRACT

An object surface managing method comprising: (a) emitting detecting light to the groove via alight source; (b) receiving first reflected detecting light from the surface and second reflected detecting light from a bottom of the groove via a light sensor; and (c) calculating a groove depth of the groove according to the first reflected detecting light and the second reflected detecting light.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an object surface managing method andan object surface managing system, and particularly relates to an objectsurface managing method and an object surface managing system which canoptically measure tire groove depths.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Tire groove depths are very important for a vehicle. If the tire groovedepths are too shallow, the vehicle may slip while moving, andaccordingly causes a traffic accident. Therefore, the tire groove depthsmust be periodically and carefully measured. Conventionally, the groovedepths are manually and physically measured. However, such measuringmethod is non-convenient, non-accurate and could not be automaticallyperformed.

Also, some sharp objects like nails may pierce into a tire and causesdamages to the tire. Such situation is also dangerous for a driver sincethe tire may be flat while driving. However, such sharp object on thetire is hard to be found and could not be automatically detected.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One objective of the present invention is to provide an object surfacemanaging method and an object surface managing system, which can detectthe tire grooves more accurately and automatically.

Another objective of the present invention is to provide an objectsurface managing method and an object surface managing system, which candetect an object on the tire more accurately and automatically.

One embodiment of the present invention discloses an object surfacemanaging method, for managing a groove depth for at least one groove ona surface of an object to be detected. The object surface managingmethod comprises: (a) emitting detecting light to the groove via a lightsource; (b) receiving first reflected detecting light from the surfaceand second reflected detecting light from a bottom of the groove via alight sensor; and (c) calculating a groove depth of the groove accordingto the first reflected detecting light and the second reflecteddetecting light.

Another embodiment of the present invention discloses an object surfacemanaging method, for managing a surface of an object to be detected. Theobject surface managing method comprises: emitting detecting light to atarget object on the surface; receiving reflected detecting light from atop of the target object and reflected detecting light from the surfaceadjacent to the target object; and calculating a height of the targetobject according to the reflected detecting light from the top of thetarget object and the reflected detecting light from the surfaceadjacent to the target object.

Another embodiment of the present invention discloses an object surfacemanaging system comprising: a light source, configured to emit light toa groove on a surface of an object to be detected; a light sensor,configured to receive first reflected detecting light from the surfaceand second reflected detecting light from a bottom of the groove via alight sensor; and a calculating unit, configured to calculate a groovedepth of the groove according to the first reflected detecting light andthe second reflected detecting light.

Another embodiment of the present invention discloses an object surfacemanaging system comprising: a light source, configured to emit detectinglight to a target object on a surface of an object to be detected; alight sensor, configured to receive reflected detecting light from a topof the target object and reflected detecting light from the surfaceadjacent to the target object; and a calculating unit, configured tocalculate a height of the target object according to the reflecteddetecting light from the top of the target object and the reflecteddetecting light from the surface adjacent to the target object.

In view of above-mentioned embodiments, the tire grooves can be measuredmore accurately and automatically. Also, a dangerous object on the tirecan be detected as well. Thus the disadvantages of conventional methodscan be improved.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt becomeobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading thefollowing detailed description of the preferred embodiment that isillustrated in the various figures and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an object surface detectingsystem according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2-FIG. 5 are schematic diagrams illustrating how to calculategroove depths according to embodiments of the present.

FIG. 6-FIG. 9 are schematic diagrams illustrating how to calculate atarget object on the tire according to embodiments of the present.

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating practical examples formeasuring groove depths of tire grooves

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Following embodiment(s) of the present invention can be realized by acomputer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computerexecutable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on astorage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium′) to perform thefunctions of one or more of the following embodiment(s) and/or thatincludes one or more circuits (e.g., application specific integratedcircuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or more of thefollowing embodiment(s). The storage medium may include, for example,one or more of a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read onlymemory (ROM) , a storage of distributed computing systems, an opticaldisk (such as a compact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), orBlu-ray Disc (BD).TM.), a flash memory device, a memory card, and thelike.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an object surface detectingsystem according to one embodiment of the present invention. Pleasenote, the object surface detecting system can be applied to measure thegroove depths of a tire, but also can be applied to measure a targetobject on the object surface, which will be described later.

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 to understand concept of the presentinvention for more clear. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the object surfacedetecting system 100 comprises a calculating unit 101, a light sensor103, and a light source 105. The light source 105 emits detecting lightDL to a tire 201, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The light sensor 103receives reflected detecting light RDL generated by the detecting lightDL. The calculating unit 101 calculates groove depths of the tiregrooves according to the reflected detecting light RDL. Details for howto calculate groove depths will be described later. In one embodiment,the object surface detecting system 100 can be provided in a portableelectronic apparatus such as a mobile phone. In another embodiment, thecomponents of the object surface detecting system 100 can be provided indifferent electronic apparatuses. For example, the calculating unit 101is provided in a vehicle comprising the tire, and the light sensor 103,the light source 105 are provided in another electronic apparatus nearthe tire.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the light source 105 is a line lightsource, but can be replaced by other types of light sources. Forexample, the light source 105 can be a movable point light source, whichcan move in a range to be detected of a tire. Additionally, the lightsource 105 can be a surface light source, which can calculate a largernumber of groove depths per time.

Please refer to FIG. 3, which illustrates an example of calculating agroove depth. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the light source 105 emitsdetecting light DL to a tire groove 301 and a tire surface 303. Also,the light sensor 103 receives first reflected detecting light RDL_1 fromthe tire surface 303 and second reflected detecting light RDL_2 from thetire groove bottom 305. The calculating unit 101 in FIG. 1 can calculatea first distance between the surface 303 and the light sensor 103according to the detecting light DL and the first reflected detectinglight RDL_1, and can calculate a second distance between the tire groovebottom 305 and the light sensor 103 according to the detecting light DLand the second reflected detecting light RDL_2. The difference betweenthe first distance and the second distance can be applied to calculatethe groove depth. Details for measuring a distance according reflectedlight are well known by persons skilled in the art (ex. a laserrangefinder), thus descriptions are omitted for brevity here.

As above-mentioned, the light source can be a line light source, thus aplurality of groove depths can be calculated per time. As illustrated inFIG. 4, the tire 400 comprises obvious tire grooves, thus the groovedepths thereof all exceed a groove depth threshold GT. On the opposite,as illustrated in FIG. 5, the tire 500 comprises non-obvious tiregrooves, which are shown in dotted lines, thus the groove depths thereofare below the groove depth threshold GT.

In another embodiment, the object surface detecting system 100 can beapplied to detect a target object on a surface of a tire. The targetobject may pierce into the tire such that protrudes from a surface ofthe tire or causes a hole on the tire. Or, target object is stuck on thetire. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the light source 105 emits the detectinglight DL to a target object 600 protruding from a surface 601 of a tire.The light sensor 103 receives third reflected detecting light RDL_3 froma top of the target object 600 and fourth reflected detecting lightRDL_4 from the surface 601 adjacent to the target object 600. Based onthe detecting light DL, the third reflected detecting light RDL_3 andthe fourth reflected detecting light RDL_4, a third distance between thetop of the target object 600 and the light sensor 103 can be acquired,and a fourth distance between the surface 601 adjacent to the targetobject 600 and the light sensor 103 can be acquired. After that, aheight of the target object 600 can be calculated according to the thirddistance and the fourth distance.

Please refer to FIG. 7, which comprises a chart A indicating the heightof the target object on the tire 700 and a chart B indicating the groovedepths for the tire groove. For the chart A, some heights may benegative, such as the heights of tire grooves. The height ho of thetarget object 600 is particularly larger than other heights, thus thetarget object 600 can be clearly identified based on the detectedheights.

In one embodiment, a top of the target object in the tire 700 is lowerthan the surface of the tire and accordingly causes a large hole havinga width larger than which of other tire grooves. Accordingly, such holecan be identified based on the widths. As shown in FIG. 8, an targetobject 800 pierces into a surface 803 of a tire, and causes a hole 801.The light source 105 emits detecting light DL to the surface 803, andthe light sensor 103 receives reflected detecting light DL_5, DL_6.Based on above-mentioned description, the depths of the hole can beacquired, thus the location of the hole 801 can be identified based onthe depths. By this way, the width of the hole 801 can be accordinglycalculated. That is, if a width of any tire groove is larger than awidth threshold, it can be determined that a hole which is not a tiregroove exists on the tire 700.

In one embodiment, the above-mentioned detecting results are employedfor further application. As illustrated in a vehicle system 900 of FIG.9, the object surface detecting system 100 is coupled to a control unit901, and transmits detecting result DR to the control unit 901. Pleasenote, the function of the above-mentioned calculating unit can beintegrated to the control unit 901.

The control unit 901 activates a protection mechanism if the detectingresult indicates the groove depths of the tire grooves are too shallow(i.e. the groove depth is lower than a groove depth threshold) orsomething dangerous is on the tire (ex. a width of a hole on tire islarger than a width threshold or a height of a target object is largerthan a height threshold). The protection mechanism can be, for example,generating a reminding message which can be displayed on the display 907or can be played via the speaker 909. Also, the protection mechanism canbe locking the driving system 903 if the vehicle is in a stop state,such that a user cannot move the vehicle comprising the vehicle system900.

In another embodiment, the control unit 901 is further coupled to amoving distance system 905, which provides moving distance informationMDI (ex. mileage) to the control unit 901. The control unit 901 cancalculating a relation between a moving distance of the vehicle and thegroove depth, estimates a moving distance threshold according to therelation and the groove depth; and generates a reminding message if adifference between a current moving distance of the vehicle and themoving distance threshold is lower than a predetermined value . Forexample, if a groove depth of the tire groove is A while the movingdistance is Xkm, and groove depth of the tire groove of the tire is Bwhile the moving distance is Ykm, the relation between the movingdistance and the groove depth is

$\frac{A - B}{X - Y}.$

Please note the groove depth here can mean a maximum or a minimum groovedepth among all detected groove depths, or mean an average for alldetected groove depths.

Accordingly, a moving distance threshold can be acquired based on thegroove depth threshold and such relation. After that, a remindingmessage is generated if a difference between a current moving distanceof the vehicle and the moving distance threshold is lower than apredetermined value (i.e. the current moving distance is approaching themoving distance threshold).

FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating practical examples formeasuring groove depths of tire grooves. In one embodiment, the lightsensor 103 and the light source 105 can be provided in an electronicapparatus 1001 fixed near tire 1002, and the calculating unit 101 isprovided in the vehicle body 1003 or provided in the electronicapparatus 1001. In such case, the electronic apparatus 1001 can furthercomprise a cover (not illustrated). In a non-active mode, the covercloses to prevent water or dust damaging the light sensor 103 and thelight source 105. Also, in an active mode, the cover opens such that thetire grooves can be measured. In another embodiment, the light sensor103 and the light source 105 is provided in a portable electronicapparatus 1005 such as a mobile phone, and the calculating unit 101 isprovided in the vehicle body 1003 or provided in the portable electronicapparatus 1005.

In above-mentioned embodiments, tire grooves are applied as examples toexplain the present invention. However, tire grooves can be replacedwith grooves of any object, for example, a machine component. Therefore,in view of above-mentioned embodiments, an object surface managingmethod can be acquired, which comprises following steps: (a) emittingdetecting light to a groove on an object to be detected (ex. a tire) viaa light source (ex. 103 in FIG. 3); (b) receiving first reflecteddetecting light from the surface and second reflected detecting lightfrom a bottom of the groove via a light sensor (ex. RDL_1, RDL_2, 103 inFIG. 3) ; and (c) calculating a groove depth of the groove according tothe first reflected detecting light and the second reflected detectinglight.

As above-mentioned, the object surface managing method can also beemployed to detect a target object on the tire. Other details can beacquired based on above-mentioned embodiments, thus descriptions thereofare omitted for brevity here.

In view of above-mentioned embodiments, the tire grooves can be measuredmore accurately and automatically. Also, a dangerous object on the tirecan be detected as well. Thus the disadvantages of conventional methodscan be improved.

Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerousmodifications and alterations of the device and method may be made whileretaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the abovedisclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and boundsof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An object surface managing method, for managing agroove depth for at least one groove on a surface of an object to bedetected, comprising: (a) emitting detecting light to the groove via alight source; (b) receiving first reflected detecting light from thesurface and second reflected detecting light from a bottom of the groovevia a light sensor; and (c) calculating a groove depth of the grooveaccording to the first reflected detecting light and the secondreflected detecting light.
 2. The object surface managing method ofclaim 1, further comprising: emitting the detecting light to a targetobject on the surface; receiving third reflected detecting light from atop of the target object and fourth reflected detecting light from thesurface adjacent to the target object; and calculating a height of thetarget object according to the third reflected detecting light and thefourth reflected detecting light.
 3. The object surface managing methodof claim 2, further comprising: activating a protection mechanism for avehicle comprising the tire if the height is higher than a heightthreshold.
 4. The object surface managing method of claim 1, wherein thelight source is a line light source.
 5. The object surface managingmethod of claim 1, wherein the object to be detected is a tire.
 6. Theobject surface managing method of claim 5, applied to a vehiclecomprising the tire, further comprising: calculating a relation betweena moving distance of the vehicle and the groove depth; estimating amoving distance threshold according to the relation and the groovedepth; and generating a reminding message if a difference between acurrent moving distance of the vehicle and the moving distance thresholdis lower than a predetermined value.
 7. The object surface managingmethod of claim 5, further comprising: activating a protection mechanismfor a vehicle comprising the tire if the groove depth is lower than agroove depth threshold.
 8. The object surface managing method of claim5, further comprising: receiving reflected detecting light from thesurface to calculate a width of a hole on the object to be detected; andactivating a protection mechanism for a vehicle comprising the tire ifthe width is larger than a width threshold.
 9. The object surfacemanaging method of claim 5, applied to a vehicle comprising the tire,wherein the step (c) is performed via a calculating unit provided in avehicle comprising the tire.
 10. An object surface managing method, formanaging a surface of an object to be detected, comprising emittingdetecting light to a target object on the surface; receiving reflecteddetecting light from a top of the target object and reflected detectinglight from the surface adjacent to the target object; and calculating aheight of the target object according to the reflected detecting lightfrom the top of the target object and the reflected detecting light fromthe surface adjacent to the target object.
 11. An object surfacemanaging system, comprising: a light source, configured to emit light toa groove on a surface of an object to be detected; a light sensor,configured to receive first reflected detecting light from the surfaceand second reflected detecting light from a bottom of the groove via alight sensor; and a calculating unit, configured to calculate a groovedepth of the groove according to the first reflected detecting light andthe second reflected detecting light.
 12. The object surface managingsystem of claim 11, wherein the light source further emits the detectinglight to a target object on the surface, the light sensor receives thirdreflected detecting light from a top of the target object and fourthreflected detecting light from the surface adjacent to the targetobject, and the calculating unit calculates a height of the targetobject according to the third reflected detecting light and the fourthreflected detecting light.
 13. The object surface managing system ofclaim 12, further comprising a control unit configured to activate aprotection mechanism for a vehicle comprising the tire if the height ishigher than a height threshold.
 14. The object surface managing systemof claim 11, wherein the light source is a line light source.
 15. Theobject surface managing system of claim 11, wherein the object to bedetected is a tire.
 16. The object surface managing system of claim 15,applied to a vehicle comprising the tire, and further comprising acontrol unit, wherein the control unit calculates a relation between amoving distance of the vehicle and the groove depth, estimates a movingdistance threshold according to the relation and the groove depth, andgenerates a reminding message if a difference between a current movingdistance of the vehicle and the moving distance threshold is lower thana predetermined value.
 17. The object surface managing system of claim15, further comprising a control unit configured to activate aprotection mechanism for a vehicle comprising the tire if the groovedepth is lower than a groove depth threshold.
 18. The object surfacemanaging system of claim 15, further comprising a control unit, whereinthe calculating unit further calculates a width of a hole on the objectto be detected according to detecting light from the surface tocalculate, and the control unit activates a protection mechanism for avehicle comprising the tire if the width is larger than a widththreshold.
 19. The object surface managing system of claim 15, appliedto a vehicle comprising the tire, wherein the calculating unit isprovided in a vehicle comprising the tire.
 20. An object surfacemanaging system, comprising: a light source, configured to emitdetecting light to a target object on a surface of an object to bedetected; a light sensor, configured to receive reflected detectinglight from a top of the target object and reflected detecting light fromthe surface adjacent to the target object; and a calculating unit,configured to calculate a height of the target object according to thereflected detecting light from the top of the target object and thereflected detecting light from the surface adjacent to the targetobject.